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NDSU staff support campus smoking ban 

Staff members at North Dakota State University have joined the student government in supporting a campuswide smoking ban.

The NDSU Staff Senate voted 35-23 last week in favor of a ban. Staff Senate President Vance Olson said the vote was in line with a poll of NDSU staff, which showed 60 percent of staff support a ban.

NDSU’s current policy allows smoking 50 feet away from buildings.

The Student Senate supported a smoking ban last month.

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NDSU considering campus-wide smoking ban  

North Dakota State University is considering a campus-wide smoking ban. The idea got support from the NDSU Staff Senate last week, on a 35-23 vote.

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Bars against possible smoking ban 

With the announcement of a movement to make bars smoke free in Wahpeton, area bar owners are not happy.

The Richland County Tobacco Free Coalition is gathering signatures of support for a smoke-free ordinance in Wahpeton. Firehouse Pub owners Kirk Peterson and Steph Hickel said it comes down to a basic freedom of choice.

"Patrons who are here choose to be here," Peterson said. He argues if the city passes a smoke free law, its taking away his right to provide service to everyone. He said a lot of issues are not being addressed including job loss and economic impact.

Firehouse Pub bartender Jaki Ristow works full time at the bar and is opposed to the possible smoking ban in Wahpeton. The Richland County Tobacco Free Coalition is gathering signatures of support to impose a smoking ban in the city. Bar owners and employees are worried their livelihoods are in jeopardy. photo by Anna Jauhola

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Bars against possible smoking ban  

With the announcement of a movement to make bars smoke free in Wahpeton, area bar owners are not happy.

The Richland County Tobacco Free Coalition is gathering signatures of support for a smoke-free ordinance in Wahpeton. Firehouse Pub owners Kirk Peterson and Steph Hickel said it comes down to a basic freedom of choice.

"Patrons who are here choose to be here," Peterson said. He argues if the city passes a smoke free law, its taking away his right to provide service to everyone. He said a lot of issues are not being addressed including job loss and economic impact.

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Coalition seeking support for smoke-free city 

As more cities move toward smoking bans in all buildings, the Richland County Tobacco Free Coalition is following suit. While Wilkin County went smoke free with the statewide Minnesota Freedom to Breathe Act in 2007, North Dakota businesses stayed open to smokers.

Richland County Tobacco Prevention Coordinator Jason Bergstrand visited the Wilkin County Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs Coalition (ATOD) Thursday to ask for support in his and the coalition efforts in making Wahpeton a smoke-free city. The ATOD agreed to sign a letter of support when the time comes. Bergstrand said there is talk of a vaccine to cure cancer.

"The vaccine is available to us already," Bergstrand said. "It's tobacco and smoking prevention." He added that a high tax on tobacco products, smoke-free laws, secondhand smoking laws and smoke-free work places are just a few preventive methods in place around the country.

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Attendees support smoke-free fair 

More than 100 Wilkin County fair attendees strongly support smoke-free fairgrounds, beating out 6 residents who opposed the idea. A total 163 people participated in the survey.

Teen members of the Alcohol Tobacco and Other Drugs coalition (ATOD) administered the questionnaire to fairgoers from 21 different cities in the region. Some of the strongest comments in favor of the concept came from kids aged 15 to 17. According to one teen, "The fair is a great place to hang out with friends and family. It would be great if we didn't have to risk our health to have fun."

Addyson Diaz, 14, and three other high school girls presented the information at the ATOD meeting on Thursday. When asked what the group would like to achieve with the survey, Diaz said they wanted some freedom.

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23 tobacco grants awarded 

The Tobacco Prevention and control Advisory Committee awarded 23 grants totaling $3 million Thursday. Local grant funds will be used to develop and implement policies, programs and services to prevent youth and young adults from starting tobacco use as well as assist tobacco users in quitting and eliminating exposure to second hand smoke.

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Tobacco prevention grants awarded in North Dakota 

The Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Committee approved 23 grants totaling nearly $3 million this week to begin implementation of the new state plan “Saving Lives – Saving Money.”

Grant funds will be used to develop and implement policies, programs and services to help prevent youths from starting to use tobacco, help tobacco users quit, and eliminate exposure to secondhand smoke.

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First District voices health concerns about e-cigarettes 

Electronic cigarettes, or e-cigarettes, are available in the Minot community and raising some concerns.

The e-cigarette is a battery powered device that looks like a real cigarette, with changeable cartridges, or filter tips, that allow users to inhale a nicotine vapor instead of smoke. The cartridges come in a number of flavors.

"One filter tip is about equivalent to a pack of regular cigarettes. You can smoke them anywhere because it is a vapor. Some smokers buy them because they're able to smoke them on a long flight or in other places they can't smoke," said Kacey Quinata, an e-cigarette kiosk employee.

E-cigarettes are advertised as safer than regular cigarettes, because they don't contain the 4,000 chemicals that regular cigarettes contain, though e-cigarettes do contain nicotine and some other chemicals.

In a hearing scheduled for Aug. 17, e-cigarettes will be classified either as a nicotine product or a tobacco product. Their classification will impact the future sales of e-cigarettes in the U.S.

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Tobacco and Alcohol Survey 

It's a growing trend among cities across the country- the trend of more business establishments going smoke free.

But changes like these don't just happen, they require a lot of work and a lot of feedback from the public.

The STAMP Community Tobacco Prevention Coalition and Safe Communities of North Central North Dakota are hoping to gain more feedback by conducting an online community survey.

The survey covers topics like tobacco use and policy, underage drinking, and seat belt use.

It takes about ten minutes to fill-out and is completely anonymous.

The survey is also in conjunction with Measure 3, which involves tobacco prevention and education. STAMP organizers believe it will provide good insight as to what people want, and what changes need to be made.

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EDITORIAL: Committee should put tobacco ban on ballot  

As North Dakota’s voter-mandated tobacco control committee begins its work, the debate about rights and choices is heating up again.

Let us stress: Mandated by voters last November as they easily approved ballot Measure 3. Let us stress: Mandated by voters who reacted angrily when a cadre of no-nothing legislators attempted and failed to gut the measure’s provisions.

Regarding “rights”: No one’s right to smoke has been taken away. However, North Dakota, Minnesota and nearly everywhere else have limited smoking to locations where other people’s health is not threatened by the habit. It’s the old argument: The right to throw a punch ends at the other fellow’s nose. Secondhand smoke is a punch that can’t be pulled back. . . .

It’s not about the “nanny state” or taking away rights. Tobacco policy has been evolving for four decades, culminating with irrefutable evidence that smoking and secondhand smoke are insidious health hazards. As knowledge increased, so did the call for regulation. As behavior of the tobacco companies was exposed, they lost what small measure of trust they had with the public.

Regulation has not come from some ivory-tower government bureaucracy. It’s come from voters. Since the men and women who allegedly represent North Dakotans have refused to do the right thing, the new committee should put a comprehensive statewide ban on the ballot and let voters make the call.

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Forum editorial: Let voters decide ND smoke ban 

As North Dakota’s voter-mandated tobacco control committee begins its work, the debate about rights and choices is heating up again.

Let us stress: Mandated by voters last November as they easily approved ballot Measure 3. Let us stress: Mandated by voters who reacted angrily when a cadre of no-nothing legislators attempted – and failed – to gut the measure’s provisions.

Regarding “rights”: No one’s right to smoke has been taken away. . . .

A statewide ban has had no traction in the Legislature, where too many lawmakers have apparently been bought and sold by the tobacco industry. It’s no surprise the committee would consider a ballot measure because the Legislature has been unable to honestly represent the people of the state. No-exceptions ballot measures have passed in many of North Dakota’s major cities. Whenever restrictions have been on the ballot in other states, they have passed handily. Knowing what we know from polls and city votes, it’s a good bet a no-exceptions statewide ban would win approval from North Dakotans. Current exceptions include bars, tobacco shops, certain hotel rooms, truck stop enclosures and private-function rooms.

It’s not about the “nanny state” or taking away rights. Tobacco policy has been evolving for four decades . . .

Regulation has not come from some ivory-tower government bureaucracy. It’s come from voters. Since the men and women who allegedly represent North Dakotans have refused to do the right thing, the new committee should put a comprehensive statewide ban on the ballot and let voters make the call.

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LETTER: Stop smoking in our parks  

It's wonderful to finally have some summer weather and take my grandchildren to the parks. Recently my daughter and I took them to the new splash park at Oak Park. It was crowded with lots of children having a good safe and healthy time. While we were sitting there enjoying this, a gentleman decided it was a great place to light up a cigarette and spread the nicotine toxins to vulnerable children. . . .

Smoking outdoors does not eliminate the effects of secondhand smoke such as cancer. If you can smell secondhand smoke you are inhaling it.

And what is it with people thinking cigarette butts thrown on the ground are not litter?

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Tough anti-tobacco plan unveiled 

The cost of a pack of cigarettes could increase, more cities could ban smoking in public places and more schools could nix tobacco usage on campus under a five-year anti-smoking plan unveiled Tuesday.

The 11-page plan was drafted by the Tobacco Prevention and Control Advisory Committee, which organized six months ago after voters approved its creation and funding last November under Measure 3.

Kathy Mangskau, who chairs the nine-member committee, said the five-year plan will seek to reduce youth smoking and prevent more from picking up the habit while helping addicted adult smokers to quit.

Among the top priorities for the committee is to raise support to more than quadruple the state's tobacco excise tax to $2 per cigarette pack and other tobacco products by a proportional amount by June 2013.

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No-tobacco plan includes quadrupling cigarette tax 

A five-year plan for reducing tobacco use in North Dakota would more than quadruple the state's cigarette tax to $2 a pack, ban smoking in bars and renew efforts to prohibit tobacco in schools and on campuses.

The proposal, drafted by a newly formed state committee, would prohibit smoking in arenas and other outdoor areas where public events are held. The restrictions could apply to parks, baseball fields, racetracks and the grandstand at the state fairgrounds in Minot.

The plan's supporters intend to lobby local governing boards and the Legislature to extend a smoking ban in workplaces to bars, an idea state lawmakers have rejected. If local and state officials balk at implementing elements of the committee's plan, they could be offered to voters directly through an initiative campaign.

The anti-tobacco agenda will put special emphasis on helping young people kick the tobacco habit and encouraging them not to start smoking or using smokeless tobacco in the first place, said Kathleen Mangskau, the committee's chairwoman.

To that end, making tobacco more expensive and restricting where it may be used will be helpful, she said. Schools should ban tobacco use on their grounds, prohibit smoking at all events and forbid students from wearing clothing that advertises tobacco, Mangskau said.

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